


Starlight

by GabiAugusto



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: AU, Angst, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Date, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, he doesn't have feelings and he doesn't hold hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-25 09:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabiAugusto/pseuds/GabiAugusto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Nate never came back to Assemble the Young Avengers but they ended up together anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> More than thanks to my sweet readers [Vec](http://thesauron.tumblr.com/), [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/) and [Chandler](http://hufflepufftimelord.tumblr.com/), and my lovely beta [discord-ant](http://discord-ant.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated. And you can find me on [Tumblr](http://hawkeyeed.tumblr.com/)

It was a rainy day. It had been raining in New York for days now, but Kate quite enjoyed it. Her relationship with her father wasn’t going well and the gym helped her get her mind off of things, so that’s where she spent most of her time. Her sister’s wedding had been 3 months earlier and she was missing her like hell. The wedding was amazing, she could say that much, but for Kate it was both thrilling and heartbreaking to see her leave, Susan was her best friend, but she knew it was for the best. Her brother-in-law was a really great guy and Sue was happier than Kate had ever seen her. That left Kate pretty much all alone.

So like every other day of the week, she left the gym around 7 pm and then went to get a coffee in the little shop right across the street. It was pouring, but the coffee was really good and she took every opportunity to get home late so she wouldn't have to deal with her father. The shop was pretty empty, she ordered her cappuccino and a muffin and took a seat near the window.

She finished her cappuccino pretty quickly, but she was in no hurry and it was still raining, so waiting for it to stop sounded like a good idea. While watching the raindrops in the window, she heard the door open and saw a boy walking into the coffee shop. She was used to attractive boys, but this one was something else. He had a silvery white hair, that was wet from the rain, intense green eyes, and a face to die for. He quickly got into the shop and order something Kate couldn’t hear. She couldn’t stop staring at him, there was something about him, she couldn’t say what, that caught her eye. While waiting for his coffee, he glanced back towards where she was sitting. Those were some really remarkable eyes. He gave her a small grin, that made her blush - she was Katherine Bishop, not just anyone can make her blush, he really was something else - and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. A blonde girl, not much younger than her, sitting in the next table must have also noticed the boy and turned to Kate.

“Tell me you saw him. I’m not crazy, am I?”, she asked

“I saw him too, but I can’t guarantee you’re not crazy. He disappeared.” Kate responded.

“He must be a mutant. Superspeed and all. I remember my dad talking about mutants running so fast you’d barely see them. I never met one like that, though.” she said, more to herself than to Kate.

“Mutant. Well, that explains it.” Kate was still staring blankly at the door when the girl mumbled something Kate didn’t really paid attention to. “What?”

“Cassie. My name.”

“Oh, right. I’m Kate. Nice to meet you.” Cassie smiled at her. She was very pretty, looked about fourteen or fifteen years old. She seemed like a nice kid.

“Have you ever seen that guy before?” Cassie asked her. “I don’t come around this side of town that often.”

“No, not really. And believe me, I would’ve remembered if I had seen a white-haired mutant running around my favorite coffee shop.” Kate joked

“Specially a mutant that pretty.” she laughed. They talked for a while. Kate doesn’t have many friends - any, for that matter - and that conversation with Cassie made her realize that she needed a friend to talk to, she was way too lonely after her sister’s marriage. It turned out that Cassie was Scott Lang’s kid who was now living with her mom and stepdad after her dad died, and she wasn’t really getting along with them. Well, they had that in common, so that was a start.

“I know how you feel, Cassie. I would tell you to try and amend things with your family, but who am I to say anything? I’m only here talking to you because I don’t wanna go home and face my father”

It didn’t take long until Cassie’s mother called telling her to go home immediately.

“I have to go, or my stepfather will probably arrest me. But hey, here’s my number. Call me sometime so we can hang out. It was great meeting you!” The blonde girl paid for her coffee and left the shop. Kate stayed in the shop for a few minutes. By then, the rain had completely stopped and the night was cloudy and cold. She paid for the cappuccino and the muffin, picked up her bag and went on her way.

Her apartment wasn’t far from the coffee shop, just a few of blocks south and getting a cab would only get her home earlier, so walking was a better option. After walking half the block, she noticed a blur in the corner of her eye. She stopped and seconds later, the white-haired boy appeared by her side, which startled her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya." the boy said, with a smile. If those eyes were remarkable, any word for that smile was an understatement. _Jesus, Kate, focus, it’s just a boy. A very handsome boy, yes, but just that._

“No problem.” Kate returned the smile and started walking again

“So sorry you got stood up back there. Someone this pretty should never get stood up. I’m Tommy, by the way.” He gave her another distracting smile.

“I didn’t get stood up. I was just getting coffee on my own.”

“Well, then, do you mind if I walk with you? It’s not okay for a lady to walk at such hour all by herself, you see.” he mocked.

“The lady can take good care of herself, thank you very much.” She did her best to hide her smile

“Oh, I never doubted that, miss. You seem like the kinda girl who could kick my ass with your hands tied behind your back.” he said. “Just my kinda girl”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You seem a little bit too confident, don’t you think?” He didn’t seem like a complete creep, and there was still something about him, but were it anyone else, she would probably have kicked their ass by now. Also, she kinda liked him.

“Yeah, maybe a little...” His white hair was messy and still a bit wet when he ran a hand through it. _Was everything about him distracting?_ “But what can I do?” he shrugged.

They were halfway through Kate’s apartment when a limo parked next to where they were walking. The window rolled down and and revealed her father, with a blank look on his face.

“Katherine.” he nodded towards Kate, then towards Tommy. He immediately turned his attention back to his phone in his hand. “Go on, get in the car.” he said, without looking at her.

“Well, then, Katherine” he said, in a slightly joking tone while she walked towards the limo,“it was great meeting you. I’ll see you around. Oh, and by the way” she turned around to look at him, and he was looking at the limo a little mesmerized “nice ride.”

Her father barely seemed to notice him, or even her. She got in the car without a word and it drove away, while Kate resisted the urge to turn around to look at him. They drove home in silence, her father was more worried about whatever was happening on his phone than anything else.

They arrived at the apartment within 5 minutes, and the ride in the elevator to the penthouse was, as usual, quiet. Kate expected at least one question about Tommy, who he was or how they knew each other, but her father didn’t say anything. They got into the apartment and she told him she’d be going to bed, that the day had been exhausting.

It had been an exhausting day, but she wasn’t tired. She took a long shower and sat in the bed with her phone in front of her with Cassie’s number in her hand. She thought about calling for a while and in the end decided not to. The girl seemed very nice, but they had just met and Kate was yet to decide what was the deal with Tommy so maybe sleeping on it was a better solution.

But of course, she didn’t sleep right away. She went over their conversation several times in her head and Oh my God, how stupid and meaningless that conversation was, and his lovely eyes and his handsome smile and why on earth can’t I get it out of my head? Why am I acting all cheesy towards him? _It’s. Just. A. Guy._

Eventually, she drifted off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/) for doing the beta and for the love and patience :)  
> Enjoy!

She woke up with Susan’s phone call. She was coming home from her honeymoon in a few days to Kate’s happiness. She wouldn’t be living with them anymore, her husband bought a house a couple hours away from New York, but it was nice to know that she’d be back soon. Sue called quite early, so Kate didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, she got dressed and made her way into the kitchen, got her breakfast and went to school.

School was as boring as usual, stuff she doesn’t care about, people who don’t care about her. What she was really looking forward to was her archery lesson. Her new bow had arrived earlier in the week, and she was still getting used to it, but its lightness and precision made her shots much faster and more accurate.

After school, she grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the gym. On her way there, she walked by the coffee shop, and saw the white-haired boy, Tommy, sitting on the table by the window. He caught a glimpse of her and in the split of a second, he was standing next to Kate.

“Hey there. I couldn’t finish talking to you last night, so I thought I’d stop by to see if you’d be around here, Kate. I can call you Kate, right?”

“Sure, I guess.” _Really, Kate?_

“Great. Hey, how about we grab some coffee? The muffins in this coffee shop are mind blowing.” There was that smile again.

“Sorry, can’t. I have a training session now, can’t reschedule.”

“How ‘bout you prove you can kick my ass in that training session of yours? Then we can get some coffee.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Nothing brightens my day like kicking someone’s ass.” He laughed and they walked to the gym together, bantering the whole way there.

It was early, and the gym was still pretty empty. Kate headed directly to the archery range and retrieved her bow from its bag and started to set it up.

“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? I thought we were doing hand to hand! What _on earth_ is that monstrosity?” Tommy pointed at the bow, in disbelief.

“This _monstrosity_ is my bow.” she stated. “And do you really think I’d go to hand combat with you? You’re a mutant, a speedster, and I’m not, that gives you an advantage. I wouldn’t be able to touch you, let alone kick your ass. The bow will be my advantage, so we’re even.”

Tommy considered what she said for a moment

“Okay. I’ll do it.” he agreed, while she finished setting the gear up. She picked an arrow from the quiver that hanged around her waist and drew it. “Winner picks the place for dinner tonight” he said, with a confident grin.

She released the arrow and it hit the bullseye. “Perfect.”

–

****

“You kicked my ass!”

“I told you I would kick your ass.” she couldn’t stop smiling. And apparently, neither could he.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it’d be that humiliating. Jesus, how many times can someone hit the bullseye? You’re like, really good.”

"Thanks. I’ve been practicing for a while, maybe that’s why. Or maybe I’m just good.” she shrugged

"Who’s confident now?” he toyed, and nudged her with a grin “So, where are we going tonight? You kinda tricked me into going all Robin Hood back there, but you did win, so..."

"It's not like I'm going to tell you. You'll have to wait and see."

"Oh, so you're playing the mysterious girl? Ok, I can work with that."

"Cocky" she reaffirmed. "Girls don't like cocky boys. Specially the mysterious girls."

"It's worked pretty well so far. I mean, you are going out with me tonight, aren't you?"

She had to smile at that. He walked her home, and seemed quite fascinated by her building. "You live here? Seriously, _here_? What are you, a billionaire?" He asked, staring at the huge skyscraper.

"Pick me up at 8?" She tried to change the subject.  "Hey, don't be late."

He turned to her. "I won't be. Trust me" he gave her a wink and he disappeared.

She had a few hours until Tommy arrived and getting dressed didn’t take much time. But there was still her father. Usually, when she went on dates, Sue would cover for her. Her dad found no one fitting to _date a Bishop._ Her sister and her now-husband had a really hard time convincing her father, and Kate barely knew Tommy, so it'd be impossible to persuade him. And unfortunately, he was home.

She chose a strapless purple dress her sister gave her, got her things and headed for the elevator. But of course, her father, who was in a one-in-a-million night off, sitting on the living room, had to ask her.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. It's Friday night, that's what normal teenagers do."

"With that boy I saw you walking by yesterday? Please, Katherine. He's not for you, it doesn't take more than a glance to realize that."

"As if you gave _me_ more than a glance." She saw the disapproving look he gave her just before the elevator door closed.

Tommy was waiting for her downstairs in a button up green shirt and jeans. They seemed a little worn out, but he really seemed to put an effort into his appearance. His hair was all mussed and his eyes were bright as ever. The moment he saw her he straightened up and gave her that smile, the distracting one.

“Hey. You look amazing, just so you know.”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself”

“Well, I try.” he shrugged

She called for a cab - he insisted on taking her there himself, but that’d just spoil the surprise. - and they got there in less than five minutes. By the time they got to the restaurant, most of Tommy’s confidence had washed away and he looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Carlos’. Best pizza in New York City. The place doesn’t look like it, but the food is mindblowing. Are- are you okay?” she hesitated.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go.” he gave her a shy smile and led her in.

They got a table quite quickly and ordered their pizza. It didn’t take long for it to arrive. By then, Tommy had relaxed and looked again like the cocky guy from the coffee shop.

“I’m telling you, I can outrun an arrow. It’s not that hard, y’know”

“Yeah, right, if you say so.”

“Okay, this is really good” he said, between bites.

“Yup. By the way, why were you nervous when we got here? I mean you went all pale back there.”

“Nah, no reason.” he shrugged it off.

They finished their meals, paid and left the restaurant to find an empty street. Right across from where they were standing, Kate saw one of her father's old publishing warehouses.

"I can't believe he still owns those."

"What?"

"That warehouse. It belongs to my dad. It's hasn't been used in years" she told him. "I wonder what's in there now. Probably nothing"

"Yeah, probably nothing. We should go-"

"I'm curious now, lets go check it out!"

"No Kate, that's trespassing!"

"It's not trespassing if I -well, technically my dad- owns the building"

"Kate, no!" He tried to stop her, but she ran across the street and opened the huge door to the warehouse. When they entered, she found almost a huge empty space.

"See? All of this space for nothing." She walked to the middle of the room and saw a flight of stairs. "Look, Tommy, there's something upstairs."

"Kate, c'mon, let's go..."

"Please, Tommy. Nothing's gonna happen. Where's your adventurous spirit?" She smiled at him and ran towards the second floor.

When she got there, there was a house set up where the old publisher's office was. There was a bed next to what seemed a closet in a corner, an old sofa and tv in the other and a microwave and old packages of Chinese food in the third.

"Oh my God."

"Kate, I'm so sorry" he looked crushed

"What? Sorry about what?"

"Kate, I-... I live here."

"What? What do you mean? How can you live here?"

"I'm alone. I don't have a family. I have no one, really."

“You’re on your own?”

“Yeah, y’know, it’s a long story.”

“Well, I have nothing to do right now” she sat on the couch and crossed her arms.

“Kate, I-”

She raised her eyebrows at him, challenging him.

"God, I don't know why I'm telling you this." He took a deep breath and sank on the sofa "I was a juvie until a couple months ago. Like, mutant juvie. It was hell in there. They said I needed training, I needed to control my powers and I didn't have a choice, so I went. My parents never tried to find me, I guess they were just happy to get rid of me. I was never a role model and I've been in and out of juvie since I was young, but that place was hell. They made tests on everyone and tried to make us into weapons or something."

"One day, this new guy came in. People said he was more powerful than all of us together. On his first week, he almost blew up the cafeteria. That should've warned them. The first time any of them tried to stick a needle in him, he flipped. He must have been very powerful, ‘cause everyone in that place blacked out. I was the first to wake up. The other guys woke up and didn't realize what happened. I think they forgot about that boy. Whenever I asked they about him or about blacking out, they called me crazy, said I was seeing things. But I know he was real, ‘cause after blacking out, I could run. He must’ve messed up their protection system, because I had my powers back. So I ran out of that place, and never looked back. I never really understood what happened in there. When I went after my parents, I found out both had left the state and started a new life, so that's what I did. But I needed to find a place to stay. That's when I found the warehouse. No one was using it, and it had electricity, so I settled in. I got a job as a delivery boy, they don't ask many questions as long as you get the job done, and I do get the job done."

"Oh my God, Tommy. I didn't-"

"Just let me stay Kate, please. Things are finally working for me and I can't-"

She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him for a kiss. He seemed a little surprised at first, but quickly took the lead and pulled her closer. He pushed her back against the couch without breaking contact, and just when things were getting interesting, Kate heard her phone ring. At first, she didn’t pay much attention, but then she gave in.

“Sorry, Tommy, I should take it”

He leaned back in the couch, let out a barely audible “Shit”, looking a little defeated and even more beautiful with his starlight hair tousled while Kate reached for her phone. Sue’s name was on the screen.

“Katie, sweetie, where are you? Dad called furious saying you stormed out and didn’t know where you went.”

“I didn’t storm out. And I’m on my way home, don’t worry.”

“Were you on a date? I messed it up, didn’t I? Katie, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry, Sue. And I’d have to deal with dad anyway.” she took a deep breath at the thought. Susan said goodbye and hang up.

“I’m sorry, Tommy, but I have to go.”

“Sure, it’s fine. Go.” there was such a weight in those word, Kate wasn’t sure they were meant for her.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” she was a bit hesitant.

“Yeah” the distracting smile has returned to his face and she couldn’t remember why she had to leave, but she did it anyway.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe this chapter to [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/) and her everlasting patience and kindness and flawless beta reading.  
> Also, special thanks to [Jenna](http://enjolrass-butt.tumblr.com/) for the support and love. You two are amazing.
> 
> You can always find me on [Tumblr](http://hawkeyeed.tumblr.com/). Feedback is love.

When she got home that night she faced a very angry Derek Bishop. He yelled at her, saying that she should had more respect for the family name and for him, that it’s his right to know where she goes. Usually, she would have argued, how it was her life and he was never home to really care, but she only nodded, saying it wouldn’t happen again. She wasn’t really listening. The only thing she could think of was the very hot guy with whom she was making out fifteen minutes ago. After her father finished his lecture, she said goodnight and went to bed.

Kate woke up on saturday a little past ten in the morning and found the family butler in the kitchen.

“Your father had to go to London, Miss Bishop, there was an emergency meeting that he had to attend. He will be back by the end of the week, I believe.”

“And he left you to babysit me. Don’t worry, Mr. Johnson, I won’t make your job difficult.”

“I appreciate it, Miss.” the butler smiled at her.

She needed to talk to someone about what had happened the night before. Sue was coming home on Monday, but she couldn’t wait until then. So Kate decided to ask Cassie to join her for lunch. Kate called and they agreed to meet in a restaurant nearby Cassie’s house. She got dressed and went to meet her in the italian place the blonde girl had suggested. When she got there, she saw Cassie and a blonde lady, who looked enough like Cassie to be her mother waiting for her by the door.

“Hey, Kate!” Cassie waved

“Hi, Cassie.” Kate gave the lady a smile.

“This is my mom. She wanted to meet you.” she shrugged.

“Hi, I’m Peggy. I’m sorry to bother, I just wanted to meet this friend of Cassie’s.” Cassie’s mom gave Kate a warm smile.

“Of course. I’m Katherine Bishop, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Kate smile at both and they shared small talk for about five minutes until the woman excused herself and let the girls enter the restaurant.

“I’m sorry about that, but my mom said I couldn’t come today unless she met you. She can be a little overprotective sometimes.” The waiter showed them to a table and gave them the menu.

“Don’t worry. C’mon, sit down. I have to tell you something.” Kate never really understood why, but talking to Cassie was very easy. They only knew each other for two days and somehow she felt comfortable sharing with her things she would normally only tell her sister. “Remember that guy from the coffee shop? The one with the white hair?” Cassie nodded. “Yeah, we went on a date last night."

"You WHAT?" She looked a little more than stunned.

"We went out for pizza last night. I was going to the gym and he saw me. I kicked his ass in the archery range and he told me to pick a place to go. And then we made out."

"Okay, that didn't make any sense, tell the story right!” Cassie seemed just as excited as she was.

Kate told her everything. From the coffee shop until her sister’s unfortunate phone call. Cassie sometime interjected with a few Oh my God’s and deep sighs during the story, but didn’t pause the story in any way.

“I’m gonna call him later. I am.” by then, the waiter came to take their orders. They ordered their food and Kate couldn’t help but to think it was good to have someone to talk to. Telling Cassie about Tommy took a weight off her shoulders she didn’t even know she was carrying.

They talked for a while until the waiter came to bring their dishes. The food was amazing and Kate couldn’t remember how long had it been since she had such a great time. After lunch, Kate suggested they go window shopping but apparently, Cassie had plans with her mom, so the brunette called her driver and dropped Cassie off in a department store a few blocks away from the restaurant.

Afterwards, she decided to go window shopping by herself. The day was sunny and they were on their way to winter, so warm days were rare. She walked around for about an hour, doing more thinking than the actual window shopping, when her sister called. Susan and her husband were enjoying their last day in the Bahamas, she asked about Kate’s date and about dad and Kate insisted in picking them up in the airport in two days. Three months was too long away from her sister and too long alone with her father. During the phonecall, Kate almost didn’t notice when her keys fell from the front pocket of her purse. She only realized when a bald, black man picked it up and handed it to her.

“Excuse me, you dropped your keys.” well, he wasn’t exactly a man, more of a guy, somewhere around her age.

She said goodbye to Susan and hang up. “Thanks, I didn’t notice.” Now that she got a good look at him, she saw how handsome he was.

“Anytime.” he smiled. He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m sorry, but do I know you from somewhere? You look a little familiar.”

“No, I don’t think so.” he had very strong features (a beautiful jawline and deep brown eyes), that were unlikely to forget.

“Wait, aren’t you the daughter of that business man? Your sister got married a while ago, I remember seeing it in the papers and magazines.”

“Wow, you read the social column?” she joked.

“I work at the library. And I have a good memory, so...” he shrugged “I’m Eli, by the way.”

“I’m Kate.” then, Kate noticed a blur in the corner of her eye, that she automatically attributed to Tommy and her heart skipped a beat. “I’m really, really sorry, but I have to go meet someone. It was nice meeting you, though.” she stood out her hand towards him.

“It was nice meeting you too, Kate.” he shook her hand walked away. When she was reaching for the phone in her bag to call her driver, she spotted Tommy standing across the street, with a frightened look on his face.

She crossed the street heading towards him. “Hey, you. What are you doing here?” she grinned

“I- hm, I had a delivery to do down the street, I didn’t know you’d be here, with... that guy.”

“Oh, right. I’ve only just met him. I dropped my keys, he got them for me. His name’s Eli.”

“I’m sorry Kate, I think we should stop this.”

Kate felt a rush of adrenaline after hearing those words. “Wait, stop what?”

“I think we shouldn’t see each other anymore. Not in this way, at least. I... I’m sorry.”

She suddenly felt to urge to punch him in the face then and there, but she was too polite to do it. Instead, she just stared blankly at him.

“Why? Is this because of that guy? He was just being nice!” her voice was a bit more unstable than she imagined.

“No, it’s... It’s complicated.”

“I’m a smart girl. Explain it.”

“I... I’m sorry.”

She stared at him for a moment, and she felt the urge to punch him again, maybe expecting this to be some sort of joke, but he just stared at her with a blank look in his eyes.  

“Fine.” she said, angrily. She was turning away when she remembered. “By the way, stay in the warehouse. You're putting it to good use.” he was being a dick, but he really needed that place.

“Thanks. And I’m really sorry” at those words, she turned around and walked away.

She was too proud to admit, even to herself how much that had hurt her. What amazed her was how sudden it was. She notice a bit of jealousy when he saw her with Eli, but why end things so suddenly? Eli was just being polite, like most people would be. She called her driver and tried not to think too much about what had just happened, but was unsuccessful.

When she got home, the first thing she did was call Susan. After telling the entire story, Kate still found no logic on what he had said.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, Sue. I thought he liked me just as much as I liked him.”

“Guys get all frightened of their feelings, sometimes. That's probably what happened. He'll come back.”

“It doesn’t matter. He made very clear what he wants, I won’t bother him anymore. We had fun, and it was great, but that was it.”

“You can’t fool me, Katie. I know you.”

“Jesus, Sue. I met him three days ago. I’m not that easily attached. C’mon, you know me.”

“Exactly. I _know_ you.”

“Fine, Susan. Whatever. But I’m not hurt. And go back to your last day on honeymoon.”

“Bye, Katie.”

She spent the remainder of her Saturday vegging at home, trying to distract herself with a crappy, forgettable action movie she found on TV. The next day she found herself alone, again, so she went to the archery range out of habit. At first, her shots weren’t very accurate and she missed the target more than just a couple of times. But after a while, she managed to get her mind off of t

hings and even got to hit the bullseye a couple of times. Then she gave up the bow and headed to the punching bag. She just felt like hitting something.

After 4 hours spent hitting targets and punching and kicking what she pictured as Tommy’s face, and sometimes even her father’s, she went home. She dismissed the cook and ordered some chinese food for herself.

She hated sunday nights. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay, I had some things going on, and I just couldn't write. But here it is and I hope you guys enjoy it :)
> 
> Thanks again to [discord-ant](http://discord-ant.tumblr.com/) and [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/) for doing the beta and thanks to [Jenna](http://enjolrass-butt.tumblr.com/) for the support.
> 
> Feedback is love, I'd love to hear what you think. You can also find me on [Tumblr](http://hawkeyeed.tumblr.com/).

On Monday after school, she went to the airport to pick up Sue and her husband. They had spent the last three months traveling, two in Europe and the last few weeks in the Bahamas. Their house was around two hours away from Kate’s penthouse, and since it was a present from their father, it was one hell of a house. Staying home alone when her sister was back seemed like a terrible idea, so she decided to spend the rest of the day at Sue’s. Kate had forgotten how good it was to have Sue around. She talked about how great the honeymoon was and Daniel, Kate’s brother-in-law, listed all the types of cheese they had while in France and he cooked them a recipe he learned while in Italy. She had a great time and forgot how much her life back in the city sucked. By the time dinner was done, it was too late for Kate to go back home and she decided to stay and skip school the next day.

On Tuesday morning, Kate had the inevitable talk with her sister.

“He’s probably just scared, you know.”

Kate sighed. It took her long enough to go into that. “It’s not a big deal, and I’m not affected by it.”

“You’re just trying to fool yourself. It’s pretty clear that you’re upset. Why don’t you go talk to him? That might clear things up.” She knew Sue only wanted to help, but it pissed her off anyway.

“He was very specific, and quite repetitive about what he wanted. I’m not gonna go talk to him.”

“Stop being so stubborn, Kate.”

“I’m not being stubborn, just realistic. Anyway, I should be going. I skipped school, but I don’t want to skip archery practice.”

Kate drove back to New York on her own. After going to the gym, she was heading home and had plans to order something for herself again, when Cassie called. She asked Kate to meet up at a Diner near Central Park. Once again she was glad she had met Cassie, or this would have been another boring night in front of the television eating take out food. By the time she got there, Cassie was already inside the Diner waiting for her. They greeted each other and she took a seat across the blonde girl.

“So. You and Tommy?” Cassie couldn’t hide her smile.

“He ended it. He said he was sorry, and it was too complicated and... broke up.” And I couldn’t care less.

Kate explained the rest of the story to a very stunned Cassie.

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah. I know. But it’s life, y’know, it was fun while it lasted. ” and while she laughed at Cassie’s surprised, she spotted someone at the last booth of the Diner.

“Tommy?” she narrowed her eyes and stood up, heading to his booth. “Tommy.”

The boy didn’t raise his eyes until she was standing next to him. He had brown eyes and very dark hair, but except for that, he looked just like Tommy.

“What?” the boy had a miserable look to his eyes, and even that reminded Kate of Tommy.

“I’m sorry, I think I mistook you for a... friend.” she apologized, he nodded and she went back to her seat.

“He looks exactly like Tommy.” Kate was astonished, “Except for the hair, and the eyes, but his face is... wow.”

“It was fun while it lasted, but you didn’t waste a second to jump onto that guy who simply looked like him.” Cassie gave her a knowing look.

“No, Cassie. It’s not like that at all. And he didn’t simply looked like him. They could be twins, it’s like Tommy with the dark hair.” They changed the subject and in the corner of her eye, Kate saw Tommy’s doppelganger leave the diner. She pushed the thoughts of him and Tommy to the back of her mind and continued the more-than-pleasant conversation with Cassie.

They left the diner about half an hour later and went for a walk down 5th Ave, until they stumbled upon the ruins of the old Avengers Mansion. Cassie stopped at the front gate.

“I tried joining the runaways a few months ago. Things with my mom were going as bad as it could get, until I couldn’t handle it anymore. So I left.” she told Kate, in a solemn tone. “I didn’t get far, though. It’s really hard to go to Los Angeles if you are a fourteen-year-old runaway, specially if your stepdad is a cop. All it did was make things worse with my mom.”

“He died there.” She nodded at the mansion. “All of his stuff is still inside.”

“Well, then. Let’s get it.” Kate tossed her bag to the other side of the gate and started climbing.

“Kate, you can’t do that, we’ll be arrested!”

“Cassie, your dad lived here. You have the right to get his stuff back.”

Cassie looked at Kate and the mansion for a moment and then started to climb. Once inside, they saw how wrecked the whole property was. Kate was still looking around when she saw Cassie standing in front of a crater in the ground. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. Even though they got along very well, they barely knew each other. Kate just stood next to her for a few moments.

“They told me that the Jack of Hearts had come back.” Cassie said, after a while. “My dad ran to see if he was alright. And then Jack, he-” Kate saw tears running down her eyes. “He exploded. They said he didn’t feel any pain but-”

“I’m so sorry, Cassie.”

She gave Kate a small smile. “I miss him, I do. And my mom isn’t very helpful. I guess she just wants me to move on, but I can’t.”

They stood there for a while. Kate couldn’t say anything, she understood what Cassie was feeling. Eventually, Cassie headed to the house.

“C’mon, I’ll give you a tour.” Cassie put the code on the front door of the house and they entered. The inside of the mansion mesmerized Kate, which was a big deal. The marble stairs and the wooden furniture barely showed signs of the mansion’s abandonment. “That’s the cloak room and the dining hall is that way and across that there’s the conference room, but this is boring, upstairs is much cooler. I wasn’t allowed downstairs, obviously. C’mon, Kate!” She took Kate’s hand and brought her upstairs. “So, this one was Cap’s room, that one was Hawkeye’s and my dad’s was on the other-”

“Hawkeye?” Kate said more to herself than anything else.

She heard the other girl’s question and turned around. “Yeah, that’s his room, why?”

“I’m kind of a Hawkeye fan. Do you think there’s a problem if I-” she pointed at the room, hopeful.

“We just broke into Avengers Mansion, I don’t think there’s a problem if you take a look at Hawkeye’s room. Go on, I’ll go to my dad’s.”

The door was unlocked, thankfully. There wasn’t much inside, just a badly made bed, a nightstand and a closed, right next to the bathroom door. But what caught Kate attention was the bow case on top of the bed. That was _Hawkeye’s bow_. Kate had always been a fan of his. She never really knew why, but he had been her favorite Avenger since she can remember. He was one of the reasons why she decided to learn archery. The whole room was dusty, including the case, but when she opened it, the bow was in perfect condition, as if Hawkeye was still alive and cleaning it every day. For a moment she remembered when she found out he had died, how much she cried hidden in her room. She never told anyone that.

Before she could help herself, she was standing in the middle of the room, drawing the wire and aiming an imaginary arrow at the wall. After a few moments standing in the firing position, she relaxed and put the bow down. Then she went to the closet and thought about opening the door. She would not only be breaking into his room, she would be breaking into his life, so she decided to let some things unknown. By the nightstand was his quiver, also covered in dust.

“It matches the bow.” she laughed to herself.

“You should take it.” Cassie was standing by the door with a backpack.

“What?”

“No one’s gonna use it. And you’re an archer, you’d put it to better use.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I... I got his things. His old uniform and-” She paused for a moment, her voice trembling. She gave Kate a reassuring smile and changed the subject. “Go on, take the bow.”

Kate gave the bow and the quiver a good hard look. Cassie was right, it would do no good hidden in this abandoned place. She place the quiver on her back and put the bow back in its case, cleaned the dust all over it and smiled at Cassie. “I guess we better go. We’re not supposed to be here, remember?”

They left the mansion and Cassie gave it one last look before leaving. They climbed the gate and made their way down the street when they heard noises coming from a small alley next to the mansion. The girls headed into the alley to see what was happening. Five boys were beating up a smaller boy, who was cornered in the end of the alley.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy from the diner? The one that looked like Tommy?” Cassie asked.

“We need to help him.” Kate said, already walking towards the group.

“The freak shouldn’t mess with guys like us. He’s asking to get beat up.” Kate heard the one that seemed the leader yell. The other four were kicking the boy on the ground. Kate took the bow from the case, picked an arrow from the quiver and drew.

“Hey, you!” Kate shouted. “Let him go.”

“Look who came rescue the damsel in distress. And who would you be? Hawkgirl and Miss Barbie? This is none of your business, ladies, go home.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you let him go.” One of the guys put the small boy on his feet and pushed him against the wall, then Kate saw how beat up he was. That only made her more angry.

“Put that down or you’ll get yourself hurt.” _Oh, so that’s the game he wanted to play? Let’s see who gets hurt._ She aimed her arrow at the bottle of beer in the guy’s hand and released her grip. The bottle exploded and shards of glass flew everywhere. The whole group jumped at the noise.

“I’m guessing you don’t want the next one in your eye socket. Leave him alone and go home.” Kate could hear her heart pound in her ears while the boys ran out of the alley, leaving the beaten up boy on the ground. She put the arrow back in its quiver and the bow on her back and ran to see how the boy was doing. _My God, he looks exactly like Tommy_. He had a black eye and quite a few bruises on his face.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asked, reaching for his shoulder. “I’m Cassie, and that’s Kate.”

“I’m Billy. William, but call me Billy.” When she touched him, he flinched.

“We need to take you to a hospital.” Kate stated. “There’s probably a broken bone in there somewhere.”

“No, please don’t.” he begged “They’re gonna call my parents and they can’t know bout this. Please.”

“Billy, we have to.” Cassie said, carefully. “It’s gonna be way worse not to take care of those.” She pointed at his injuries.

“Hey, are you guys alright?” A voice from out of the alley called to them. “Do you need any help?” Kate turned around to see a blonde muscular guy looking down to them. “Oh my God, is he okay?”

“Some guys were beating him up when Kate and I got here.” Cassie explained. “Kate scared them away.”

“Do you guys need help getting him to a hospital?” The guy seemed quite nice, and with all the stuff they were carrying, his help would be much welcome.

“I’m not going to a hospital. Don’t worry about me, I can’t take care of myself.” He tried standing on his own, but his legs failed him and if it weren’t for the blonde boy, he would have crashed into the ground.

“That’s not what it looks like.” the guy said. “I’m Teddy, by the way.” He smiled at Billy. “If not the hospital, tell us where we need to take you.”

“I... I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to go.”

They couldn’t just leave him. She couldn’t take them to their house, the butler was certainly gonna tell her dad and she didn’t want to explain anything about breaking into Avengers Mansion and stealing Hawkeye’s bow then threatening bullies on the street to her father. Cassie’s mom would probably freak out and take Billy to the hospital anyway. _Tommy_. He was a jerk to her and her urges to punch him hadn’t ceased yet, but Billy was badly injured and refused to go to a hospital. If Tommy protested about sheltering them, she could just kick him out.

“C’mon, Billy, I know where to take you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay, I started college this week and it turned out much more tiring than expected, so I couldn't write.
> 
> As usual, thanks to my betas [discord-ant](http://discord-ant.tumblr.com/) and [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/). You guys are awesome.
> 
> Feedback makes me happy and keeps me writing. 
> 
> And you can find me on [Tumblr](http://hawkeyeed.tumblr.com/)

  
The front door of the warehouse was unlocked. Teddy was helping Billy, who could barely walk, inside the storage space. Kate asked for the group to wait downstairs while she checked if Tommy was inside. She found him sitting on the couch sleeping with the tv on in nothing but green boxers. _Well, this is not how I imagined meeting those boxers_ , she said to herself. She shook his arm and he jumped in surprise.

“Whashappnin’?!” he mumbled.

“Tommy, look at me. I need some help.” Kate said, shaking him.

“Kate? What are you doing, what happened?” he said, still sleepy.

“A friend of mine got really beat up and we don’t have anywhere else to take him.”

“Yeah, sure,” he yawned. “bring him up.”

“You might wanna put some clothes on.” She pointed, not even trying to avoid to look. Those were some well sculpted abs.

“Oh, right.” He disappeared for a few seconds and when Kate saw him again he had a pair of shorts and a tee on. She called for Cassie to bring them up.

“Put him on the couch.” Kate instructed Teddy. He crossed the room and and did what Kate said. When Tommy saw Billy his eyes went wide and Kate heard him whisper a “ _Whatthefuck_?” to himself. He hurried to Kate.

“What the fuck?!” he almost screamed. “He looks just like me. Like, JUST LIKE ME.”

“I noticed, Tommy. And keep your voice down.” she urged him.

“Who the fuck is he and how the fuck did he end up in my couch?!”

“I don’t know and some guys were beating him up and I said I’d put an arrow in their eye socket so they walked away. He didn’t want to go to a hospital and we didn’t know where to take him so I brought him here.” He waited a few moments to respond.

“That doesn’t explain why he’s the Tommy-with-dark-hair.” he was starting to freak out.

“I. Don’t. Know. And stop freaking out. I’ll see if they need anything.” She headed to the couch.

“Kate, I think there are broken ribs, but I’m not sure.” Cassie told her. “I don’t know a lot about this stuff.”

Kate had to convince him, they couldn’t take care of that by themselves. “Billy, a hospital is really-”

“I can heal it.” Billy breathed.

“What?” Teddy said. “What do you mean?”

“Please, don’t freak out.” he was having trouble breathing, there was definitely a broken rib. “I’m a- I’m a mutant.” he said, hesitant.

“Please tell me you’re not a speedster.” Tommy said, almost horrified.

“Running? No. I can... cast some spells.” Billy told him.

“Then do it, you’re in pain.” Teddy told him. “Do you want us to leave?”

“No, just take a step back.”

They all gave him space and he closed his eyes. Then Kate heard him whisper something. “Iwanttohealiwanttohealiwanttohealiwanttoheal...” He mumbled.

Suddenly, a bright light coming from Billy blinded Kate and when she could see again, Billy was sitting on the couch breathing heavily, unharmed.

“Wow.” Kate heard Teddy say to himself, while Cassie just looked stunned and Tommy was still trying not to freak out.

Billy looked at everyone, still a little uncertain. Kate didn’t really understood what he had done or the extent of his power. She didn’t know a lot of mutants, Tommy was the first one she had known, and she didn’t really know him. But by this, she could tell that Billy was something else.

“That was... amazing.” Teddy told him. She saw relief and the hint of a smile growing on Billy’s face.

“Yeah, that was great.” Cassie reaffirmed. “I had never seemed something like that.”

They all sat around him on the living room a little curious about what had happened. Billy seemed to light up with the interest. Only then he caught a glimpse of Tommy.

“Oh my God! You look just like me.” Billy said.

“I know!” Tommy agreed.

“But how?” Billy was incredulous.

“Dude, you just healed yourself by chanting some weird stuff, I’m ready to believe pretty much anything right now.” Tommy shrugged.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to, the pain was really bad, and I couldn’t tell my parents. I had to do it. When I get upset, bad stuff happens. I can’t control it.”

“What do you mean you can’t control it?” Teddy asked.

He looked at everyone in the room, hoping for a change of subject maybe. Instead, he got very interested faces waiting for a response. Kate saw that it wasn’t easy for him, talking about it. He sighed.

“The first time it happened, some boys were teasing me at school. They were kicking and punching and I just wanted them to feel what I felt, to know what it was like to get beat up. I nearly blew up the place. Some of the teachers saw it and they told my parents. Afterwards, some guys, from the government, I think, showed up at my place and said I needed to learn to control it. They said there was a special place for people like me to learn,and that I had to go. My parents didn’t want me to, but eventually, they were convinced.”

“But I thought your parents didn’t know about your powers.” Kate said.

“Well, they don’t. When I got to that place, I found out it was nothing like they told me it would be. That place was hell. They did experiments on the kids. Tests, to see how much power they had. But the first time they tried to do something with me, I couldn’t control it, I flipped. But this time it wasn’t like before, it was much stronger. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were, and they did. When I got back to my senses, everyone was blacked out, so I left before they woke up. When I got home, my parents forgot about everything that had happened. They just thought I was coming home from school like a normal day. Not even people at school remembered it, everything went back to the way it was. So I took that chance to hide it, so I wouldn’t have to go back to that god-forsaken place.”

“It was you! You blew up juvie!” Tommy shouted.

“What? You were there?” Billy asked, eager.

“Yeah! I heard about you when you got there. I heard the guards say that you were more powerful than any of us, that not even the docs knew what was up with you. That day I blacked out too, and when I woke up, I could use my powers. So I ran away.”

“Wow.” Billy was stunned.

“First we are like twins, and now we’re the only ones who remember what happened. This is so creepy. Cool, but creepy.”

There was silence in the room for a moment, Billy and Tommy trying to understand what had happened, and the others just waiting to see if either of them said anything.

“Okay, who’s up for a pizza?” Kate said, trying to make any conversation at all. Only then realizing that she was starving. She met Cassie at the diner more than 3 hours before, and there was a lot of adrenaline in those 3 hours.

“I am. I’m starving.” Teddy said, giving Kate a smile.

They all agreed to get some pizza, so the entire group went to the pizza place across the street from the warehouse. The place was quite empty, and they got a table next to the door. They ordered a couple of pizzas and the conversation became pleasant. Kate was taking a sip of her soda when a familiar face entered the restaurant. Eli caught a glimpse of Kate and waved at her. Her eyes immediately darted to Tommy, was was sitting on the other side of the table, and he frowned as soon as he recognized who the boy was. Eli, however, went straight to the cashier to make an order. The others barely noticed what had happened and the conversation between them kept going. After placing the order, Eli went to where Kate was sitting, and the whole table went silent with the arrival of the newcomer.

“Hi there, Kate!” He smiled at her.

“Hi!” she said, startled.

He stood in front of her for a while, in a awkward silence.

“Oh, right! Sorry, these are my friends, this Cassie, Billy, Teddy and Tommy. Guys, this is Eli.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” He nodded at them.

 _Oh my God, this can’t be any more awkward_. Then, all of the sudden, there was a loud thump on the door and five guys in masks entered the pizza place.

“All right, everybody on the ground!” one of them screamed. “NOW!”

The whole restaurant did what the man said, including the table at which Kate was sitting. One of the guys pulled the girl from the cashier and put the gun to her head.

“All we want is the cash!” Some other guy yelled. “Give us the money and nobody gets hurt.”

“We need to do something.” Kate whispered.

The girl started crying and the robber push her to the ground. Another one pulled Kate and pointed the gun at her.

“You better hurry.” He told the manager, while instructing a third robber to get the money.

From where she was standing, she could see Tommy and Teddy whispering at each other, while Cassie was listening. She couldn’t hear them, and apparently, neither could the guy holding a gun to her head, because his attention was still at the cashier. After a few moments, Tommy looked at her and she heard him whisper. _Kick him_. She would, but she needed a distraction. Tommy realized that, because seconds later he raised his arm at mutant speed and pushed a glass from the table that shattered on the floor, startling all the robbers. Then, Kate pushed her elbow to the guy’s stomach, then she turned around and slapped his hand, which made him drop the gun, afterwards she punched him in the nose and kicked him in the head, and he hit the ground unconscious.

By the time she turned around, Tommy was leaning over the cashier with a unconscious man by his feet, Teddy was taking care of another and even Cassie was beating the crap out of another guy. Even Eli seemed to have help, he was holding the remains of a broken bottle with a guy by his feet. Billy was whispering to himself and all the staff and clients in the restaurant seemed to have fallen asleep. After a few moments, between the unconscious robbers and Billy’s spell, they were the only ones left awake. Well, all of them and Eli.

“What was that?” he asked Kate, shocked.

“That was _awesome_.” Tommy said.

“What do we do now?” Cassie asked.

“Maybe we should call the police?” Teddy suggested. “I don’t know, someone needs to deal with these guys.” He said, pointing at the robbers.

“I’m so not gonna be here for that.” Tommy announced. “What if they send me back to juvie?”

“Me too.” Cassie agreed “My mom will never let me out of the house again if she finds out I did... well, _this_.”

“We’ll call the police and then we’ll get out of here.” Kate suggested.

“Hey! We can’t just do that! What if they tell the police?” Eli protested.

“Tell what? That a bunch of kids kicked the robbers' asses and then took off?” Tommy pointed out. “You’re welcome to stay.”

Eli thought about it for a moment and decided to join them. After reporting the robbery, they all headed back to the warehouse, but before they got there, Cassie mom called, demanding her to be home in ten minutes.

“We have to leave, but we should get together again, to discuss whatever the hell that was.” Kate said. “Tomorrow, in here, maybe at seven?”.

She picked up her bow and arrow and she called a cab for both her and Cassie. When they got to the street, the cops hadn’t arrived yet. Eli accompanied the girls to the sidewalk, still a little shocked about the situation.

“What was that?!”

“I don’t know, Eli.”

“What should I say?”

“I need to think about this.” Kate responded, as the cab arrived. “We need to go.” She opened the cab door. “Just don’t tell anyone about us. Go home. The cops should be here anytime.”

“Kate, wait! How do I... What do I...” he trailed off.

“Show up here tomorrow, at seven. We’ll figure it out.”

After dropping Cassie at home, she headed to her apartment thinking about all that had happened to her in the last 24 hours.

It was the best day she'd had in a very long time.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the delay, college has taken up most of my time, and any time I have left, I spend sleeping. 
> 
> Thanks to my betas [discord-ant](http://discord-ant.tumblr.com/), [Savannah](http://tommyshepherds.tumblr.com/) and [Jenna](http://tsar-bucks.tumblr.com/).
> 
> And here's my [Tumblr](http://hawkeyeed.tumblr.com/).

She barely got any sleep that night. On the next morning, she got dressed much earlier than usual and left home, thinking about grabbing breakfast in a nearby bakery. She was so preoccupied that she lost track of the time and almost missed first period. School seemed to last longer than usual; the classes seemed to never end. After class she went to the archery range and stayed focused on the target practice until 6 pm. She went home and changed, then headed directly to the warehouse.

When she got there, she saw Eli standing by the door. When he caught a glimpse of her, he gave her a hesitant smile.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” He asked.

“Very little. You?”

“No. I’m still a little shocked about what happened.” He admitted.

They entered the huge building and found the rest of the group waiting upstairs. They all sat down in the living room talking about the papers.

“They said no one remembers. All the robbers were arrested, but no one knows it was us.” Teddy was saying. “I’m guessing we have to thank Billy for that.” Billy smiled at the blonde boy.

“So... what was that exactly?” Eli said.

“We did what we had to do.” Kate answered. “They had guns, somebody could have got hurt if we didn’t do something.”

“Someone could’ve got hurt _because_ we did something.” Eli replied. “It’s not like we’re superheroes or anything.”

“C’mon, you can’t deny that it was awesome.” Tommy answered.

“That’s not what I’m saying, I’m just trying to understand what happened.” Eli said.

“So we’re vigilantes?” Teddy asked.

“No... I mean, maybe, I don’t know.” Kate said. “For one thing, we’re too young for this, we could get hurt. And hurt other people. But on the other hand, maybe we’re the only ones who can help, there are no Avengers anymore. I know only Billy and Tommy have superpowers, but-”

“That’s sort of not... true.” Cassie said. “I’ve been stealing Pym Particles from my dad for years, hoping I’d get some of his powers, but nothing happened. Until the day I ran away. When my stepfather found me, we had a fight. He started screaming at me, yelling about how irresponsible I was, and what I was doing to my mom, so I got mad and passed out. When I woke up I was something like 5 times my normal size. It turns out that the Pym particles had the effect I wanted, and more. Not only can I become smaller, but I can grow bigger too. I don’t have a lot of control over it; my stepfather made me promise that I wouldn’t do it again or he’ll tell my mom.”

Kate was taken aback by Cassie’s confession that she almost missed what Teddy had to say.

“I’m a mutant.” He announced. “Shape-shifting and super strength.”

Kate was startled. “Ok, so I’m guessing I’m the only one without any superpowers?” She said. She expected an objection from someone, at least Eli, but no one said anything. “Seriously? You all have super powers?”

“This has gotta be a sign or some shit.” Tommy said. “C’mon! We all just happen to bump into each other? It’s destiny!”

“Do you even believe that?” Billy asked

“Not the point.” Tommy dismissed. “The thing is, Kate is right. There are no Avengers anymore. And we can be the _new_ Avengers. We’ve got what it takes, we saw that last night. We met hours before and we beat the crap outta 6 guys, do you imagine what we could do with some training?!”

“What if one of us gets killed? Then what?” Teddy said.

“Well, at least we’d be doing _something_.” Cassie said.

No one said anything for a moment. They were all considering the implications of the decision they were about to make.

“If we do this, then what?” Teddy asked.

“That’s a good question.” Billy added. “It’s not like any of us have been superheroes before. Do you guys really think this is a good idea?”

“Yeah!” Tommy exclaimed.

Kate could see Tommy’s point of view, but Teddy was right. What if someone got killed? They were just kids, they were bound to screw up. And screwing up in this business meant somebody dead. Kate pondered on the subject, and before she could call the whole thing off, she heard an explosion and hit the ground.

When she looked around, everybody else was on the floor. Her ears were buzzing and she was a little dizzy, so it took her a while to realize Teddy wasn't among the group. Instead, he was being held by no other than the Super Skrull.

“ _Teddy!_ ” Billy cried.

Teddy managed to break free from the Skrull’s hold and suddenly he grew wings and his skin turned green and flew away. _He’s a mutant. Right._ Kate saw Billy chanting something and Tommy was nowhere to be seen. Cassie seemed to be concentrating and Eli was looking at Kate. She nodded at him, took her bow and quiver (that she had packed, just in case) and headed to the rooftop through the fire escape. When she got there, Tommy had both his hands raised towards Teddy and the Super Skrull up in the sky.

“What are you doing?!” She demanded of him.

“Trying to blow him up. But just him, not Teddy.” He replied. “I can’t do it. They are too close together.”

The Skrull got hold of Teddy again and it didn’t seem like he could break free on his own this time. Kate pulled an arrow from the quiver and drew. Then she took a deep breath and aimed  for the Skrull’s head. They were moving too much, so when she released the bowstring the arrow hit his shoulder instead, but it was enough for Teddy to escape. He flew back to where Kate and Tommy were standing. By then, Cassie, Eli and Billy had already reached the rooftop and the whole group ran to see to Teddy. Seconds later, the Skrull was standing right next to the team. He pulled Billy and wrapped an arm around his neck.

“I’m warning you, Hatchling, I _will_ hurt your friend.” The Skrull threatened.

“Okay! Don’t hurt him! I’ll do what you want!” Teddy exclaimed. At that, the Super Skrull loosened his grip on Billy, who was pushed back towards the group.

Teddy turned around and landed a perfect punch to the Super Skrull’s left cheek, which made him fly into the next building. “Y’know, super strength.” He shrugged, afterwards. “C’mon, we gotta go. I don't think he’s giving up that easily.” They all nodded and went back inside the building, heading to the street.

“What was that?” Billy asked.

“He thinks I’m a Skrull.” Teddy answered. “I mean, he really believes it. But I can’t be. I’m a mutant.”

“We should probably discuss this when we’re not being chased down by an alien!” Kate shouted, as they ran into the streets.

“My place is nearby, let’s go!” Teddy said, as he led the group through the neighborhood.

After turning the first corner, Eli stopped.

“What are you doing?! We have to go!” Kate shouted.

“I can’t do it, Kate. I’ll only slow you guys down.” He replied. “I don’t have powers, I’m not... I’m nothing.”

“Neither am I! Eli, _run_!” She argued.

“I can’t, Kate. I’m sorry.”

He ran into a nearby alley and left Kate’s sight. She heard Billy call her, so she ran back towards the rest of the group.

They arrived at Teddy’s apartment in less than five minutes. It seemed to be empty, for which Kate was glad. It would be really hard to explain to Teddy’s family their whole situation.

"Okay, now that we're here, mind explaining what happened earlier?"Billy exclaimed.

“He is convinced I’m a Skrull. But I’m not! I’m a mutant!” Teddy blurted out.

“Yeah, you kinda told us that earlier.” Tommy said, which made Kate remember how easily he confessed it back at the warehouse.

Suddenly, the front door opened and a blonde, beautiful woman walked in. Kate saw Teddy’s eyes go wide for a moment. He immediately jumped towards the door.

“Hello, honey.” The woman said to Teddy. She caught a glimpse of the crowd in her living room and seemed startled for a moment. “I... I didn’t know you were having friends over! I’m Ted’s mom, by the way.”

Teddy’s mom shook Kate’s hands gracefully and Kate gave her the best smile she could manage, under the circumstances. I mean, they _were_ being chased by a crazy alien just a few moments ago. The lady was offering them cookies when Kate heard another explosion. Her ears were still buzzing from the first one, but she could still tell this was a big one. When she looked towards the origin of the sound, the Super Skrull was standing in the living room, and Kate’s heart jumped when she saw he was holding Eli hostage.

“Enough hiding, lad. Come with me and we will restore the Skrull empire to its former glory. Or your friend dies.” He ordered, tightening his grip on Eli.

“Don’t listen to him, Teddy.” Eli stated.

“Let him go and I’ll come with you.” Teddy announced. “But I’m telling you, I’m not a Skrull.”

Kate heard Teddy’s mom protest when the Skrull pulled out some sort of device.“You are, Hatchling. And I’ll prove it by reverting you to your original form.”

The device emitted a light that seemed to scan everyone in the room, and in the blink of an eye, Teddy’s mom’s skin turned green. Teddy looked at her, incredulous.

“Mom?” He muttered.

“She’s not your mother, she’s a traitor to her race.” The Super Skrull hissed.

“The Empress ordered me to protect him, even from the likes of you.” She exclaimed, as she pulled out a gun and shot at him. In the process, Eli got away from his captor. The Super Skrull recovered and shot something towards Teddy’s mom, who immediately burst into flames. Billy tried to help, he started mumbling a spell, but there was nothing he could do.

“She’s gone, Billy.” Kate said.

“Teddy, I’m so-” Billy started, but when he turned around, he saw no one. “Where is...”

“The Skrull took him.” Eli admitted.

“Then we need to find him and we need to get him back.” Billy announced.

“Yeah, how?” Eli asked.

Kate was still shocked about what had happened to Teddy’s mom, but Billy was right. They had to find him.

“We have to _try_.” Kate admitted. “We can’t just leave him.”

“Yeah, sure, but how?” Tommy argued. “It’s not like we can just call Teddy and ask for directions. Unless Harry Potter here can track him.” He gestured towards Billy.

Billy seemed to think on the subject for a moment. “I can try.” He said, afterwards. “But would it be better if we got other help? From the Avengers, maybe?” He looked hopefully at Kate.

“Nope.” Tommy said, abruptly. “They’d probably blame it all on us and...”

“...And send you back to juvie.” Eli finished. “I’m with Billy, we should tell someone about it.”

“There are no Avengers anymore, who are we gonna tell, the cops? How are they gonna help us against the Super Skrull?” Kate argued.

“I guess Kate’s right, we need to do it ourselves. I’ll take us there.” Billy affirmed.

“How do we...?” Kate started.

“I don’t know, just... stay close.” Billy answered.

With Tommy, Eli, Cassie and Kate around him, Billy started chanting again.

“Iwannafindthemiwannafindthem...”

Kate closed her eyes. She felt the air around her shift and when she looked around, they weren’t in Teddy’s destroyed living room anymore. They were standing in a huge space with a massive window.

“Teddy...?” Billy muttered.

“I don’t think Teddy’s anywhere nearby.” Tommy

Kate looked down and out the window and saw Central Park lying at their feet.

“We’re in the Avengers Tower!” Kate exclaimed. “Billy, we need to get out of here, now!”

“What, I don’t...” Billy trailed off.

“We could be charged with breaking and entering,” Tommy started. “We could get in _so much_ trouble.”

“Why did you take us here in the first place?!” Eli shouted.

“Calm down, Eli.” Kate said. “He didn’t mean it.” She turned towards Billy. “C’mon Billy, can you get us out of here?”

“I- I need to focus.” He said, trembling.

“Ok, Tommy, can you do a quick recon to see if there’s anyone around?” Kate asked, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye. She turned her attentions back to Billy, who was being calmed down by Cassie. After a few moments, she felt someone poking her arm.

“Katekatekatekatekate...” Tommy insisted.

“What is it, Tommy?!” She hissed.

“There’s someone around.”

She turned around and caught a glimpse of a man coming through the doorway.

“Is that... Jarvis?” Eli said.

“Excuse me,” the man started, “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

They couldn’t get caught. Jarvis would turn them in to the police and her father would know about this, and it would all be over long before it even started.

“Billy, c’mon!” Kate hurried him. He started chanting again and suddenly they weren’t at the tower anymore. She started feeling sick from all the magic-travelling-thing and almost missed the fact that Teddy was bound to the wall, and the Super Skrull was just by his side.

“I got this.” She heard Tommy say. He headed towards the Super Skrull, while dodging his attacks. Kate got up and helped Teddy get loose. When they were close enough together, the Super Skrull hit Tommy in the face so hard that he was sent to the floor. By then, Teddy was back on his feet. Kate managed to get Tommy - who was still lying on the floor - out of the way and caught a glimpse of Teddy knocking the Super Skrull unconscious.

“You alright?” Cassie asked Teddy, who nodded.

“How did you guys find me?” He asked, a little amazed.

“All Billy.” Kate responded “We had some... obstacles along the way, but he got us here.”

Billy smiled at Teddy and Kate went to check on Tommy. Cassie seemed to be helping him up.

“Yeah, I’m guessing it’s time to go.” She heard him say to Cassie. “Plus, I think my nose is broken.”

“Yeah, probably.” Cassie said. “But I’m not sure Billy is well enough to get us all back to New York.”

Kate turned around when she heard the Super Skrull’s voice again. Teddy, for some reason, had gone to talk to him once more before they left.

“...I’m sorry, but your mother is dead, Your Highness.”

“And my father?”

Suddenly, beamed from an unseen direction, some sort of ray hit the Super Skrull. Several Kree soldiers made their way in through a newly exploded hole in the ceiling.

“No need to worry anymore, child. The Kree army protects its kin.” Their leader said. “And you are one of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is almost done, so it'll probably be up sometime next weekend.
> 
> Feedback is love :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College has been beyond crazy, I haven't had time to sit down and write in a really long time, and for that I'm really sorry. Hope you guys enjoy it, and we are headind towards the end! Just a few more chapters.

“ _What?"_ Teddy said, startled. “Your kin? I am one of you?”

“Yes. You are the child of Mar-Vell.” The Kree leader responded.

“Wait, Mar-Vell as in _Captain Marvel?"_

“As you know, the Kree and the Skrull have been at war for many generations, fighting for supremacy. Years ago, as the conflict finally reached Earth, Mar-Vell was captured by the Super Skrull and delivered into the hands of the Skrull Emperor. However, the emperor’s daughter was in love with Mar-Vell, and beside him, conspired to overthrow her father in order to try and restore peace between the races. Even though Mar-Vell sacrificed hilself to save the life of a human, the Kree inteligence reported that the Princess gave birth to a half-breed shortly after.”  

“You’re saying I’m half-Kree, half-Skrull?”

“No,” the Kree stated, “Your father was Kree, so you are Kree. And according to Kree law, you must come with us.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t just leave everything behind and join the Kree army.”

“You don’t have a choice.” The Kree responded. He raised his gun in Teddy’s direction and fired. “Men, take him.”

Teddy went down with the Kree’s attack, and the whole group immediately came to the rescue. Kate couldn’t tell what was happening throughout most of it, she only focused on taking down as many Kree as possible with her bow (it took more arrows than she’d hoped). When she looked around, all of the Kree militia was lying on the ground, unmoving. The Super Skrull was conscious again, talking to Teddy.

“We need to get out of here.” Tommy said.

“Billy, can you take us?” Kate asked.

“I don’t know, Kate.” Billy answered. “I’m still a little dizzy from before, and there are more of us now.”

“Well, there’s... that.” Teddy pointed out the Kree ship.

“Yeah, and who’s gonna fly that?” Tommy asked.

“Maybe I can simplify the control panel so any of us can fly it.” Billy suggested. The rest of the team agreed and everyone, including a injured Super Skrull, entered the warship.

“Why is he coming?” Cassie asked Billy.

“It’s a bit more complicated than it looks, Cassie. And Teddy says he’s with us.” He answered.

Billy changed the panel as he said he would and set the ship to fly to New York City. After that he went to check on the Teddy and Super Skrull outside the control cabin.

“Really, we’re going back to New York?” Tommy asked.

“Well, yeah, do you wanna run around for a while? Got something better to do?” Eli asked.

“Are we handing Teddy over to the Avengers?” Tommy argued. “What do you think they’re gonna do to him once they find out two enemy races are willing to fight to the death over him? They’re gonna do everything to avoid another Kree-Skrull War, including giving up our friend to whatever alien race is most demanding.”

Kate saw Eli clench his fists. “Yes, we are going to New York. They won’t hand him over, they’ll look after him, and the rest of us too. They have to.”

“Well, sure! Of course the Avengers will stay by our side, now that you said that they _have_ to. You shoulda said that sooner.”

Eli didn’t reply, but the tension in the cabin was beyond belief. After a few minutes, Billy came back, looking a little unnerved.

“What happened?” Cassie asked.

He turned to Tommy and took a deep breath.

“The Super Skrull is saying we’re the Scarlet Witch’s twins.” He said, almost inaudibly. “Thomas and William”.

Tommy just looked at him, puzzled.

“Apparently, Scarlet Witch created twin boys, using her reality-altering powers. A mage and a speedster. _Us_.”

“Wait, _what?"_ Tommy asked.

Before Billy could answer, the entire ship shook violently.

“What the hell was that?!” Eli blurted out.

“The giant Skrull ship in the middle of New York City, that’s what it was.” Tommy retorted. Only then did Kate see what Tommy was talking about. The huge warship was hovering over the city and had its cannons pointed at them.

“They think we’re Kree.” The Super Skrull said, as he got in the control cabin with Teddy. “I must warn them that we are here, or they will destroy this ship.”

“I’ll go outside. If I’m to be their emperor, they won’t attack me.”

The Super Skrull tried to protest, but his injuries prevented him from doing so.

Teddy flew out of the ship and Billy followed closely. When Teddy entered the Skrulls' line of sight, they stopped attacking. Then, from behind the Skrulls, another Kree ship much bigger than the one they were on, appeared and battered the Skrulls. Teddy and Billy were suddenly caught in the middle of the battle, with both sides firing heavily. Teddy signaled them to stand down, but neither side obeyed.

The ship that was still under Billy’s command landed on a nearby rooftop as the fight continued. Kate picked up her bow and immediately ran outside to try to help her teammates. When she got there, both sides had stop firing, and Kate watched as the New Avengers arrived at the roof.

“Oh, God. We’re so screwed.” Tommy muttered, next to her.

“The Avengers won’t let them take Teddy. _Right?"_ Kate asked the rest of the team, who were staring astonished at the events before their eyes.

“That’s Steve Rogers.” Eli said. “He won’t let them just take Teddy. Whatever we are, a group, a team, or just crazy teenagers trying to be superheros, Teddy is one of us. And we have to protect our own. That’s _Captain America_. He _will_ protect us.”

“Good speech, Mr. Patriot.” Tommy started. “But I’m not that sure they won’t just give him up.”

“They won’t.” Eli reassured.

With the unspoken cease fire, both armies landed soldiers on the roof. The Kree were the first to speak.

“The child is the son of Mar-Vell. Therefore, under the Kree law, he must come with us.”

“Son of Mar-Vell?” Captain America repeated to himself.

“He is to be the new Skrull emperor.” A Skrull announced. “He is the son of Empress Anelle.”

The argument continued between the leaders of the two races, with the New Avengers in the middle.

Captain America spoke, catching everyone’s attention. “Hulkling will remain on Earth under the protection of the New Avengers.”

“Unfortunately, he will not.” The Kree leader said, as he pulled a gun and fired at the Captain. However, Eli appeared and put himself between them, taking the shot in his place. The Captain barely caught the teen before he collided with the ground.

Kate’s heart stopped for a second. She was struck with a sudden realization that all that was happening was real. Real enough that Eli could _die_. And she felt guilty. If they hadn’t met, he wouldn’t be there, he would be safe back home.

She and the rest of the team ran towards him. The battle was resumed and both sides were striking each other, with the New Avengers and themselves stuck in between. Kate pulled her bow and started firing, trying to protect them from either of the alien races.

“Captain...” Eli murmured, half-conscious.

The Avenger approached the boy to hear him.

“Don’t let them take Teddy.” Eli finished.

The Captain nodded firmly. “I won’t. Now let’s get you to a hospital.” The Sentry approached them and took Eli away while the battle continued around them.

Despite of all the shit that had gone down, Kate felt as if she was where she had to be. She was still worried for Eli, but between arrows, and blasts, and shots, and Krees, and Skrulls, she felt like she belonged. Something that she never felt before. Not like this, anyway.

She was starting to run low on arrows, so it was probably time to collect some of them back. Spider-Woman saw her running around picking them up.

“Need a hand with that, sweetheart?” She offered, releasing a burst of webbing and catching something like ten arrows.

_Okay, being an Avenger is amazing._ Kate smiled at her and kept shooting. Between arrows, she saw Cassie fighting off a Kree platoon with Spider-Man, and Tommy blowing up stuff. Both of them seemed to be having the time of their lives. _I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so._

She searched around for Teddy and The Super Skrull, but they were nowhere to be seen. Billy too seemed to be searching for them, but with no success. She felt something sting her stomach, but paid little attention to it, since a Kree soldier was headed in her direction. She nocked an arrow and hit him in the shoulder and a second one hit him in the neck.

When she looked around, moments later, Teddy had reappeared and had been captured by the Kree Militiamen.

“Cease fire! You will hurt the Hatchling.” The Super Skrull ordered. The Skrulls, however, didn’t stop the attack. Then, the Super Skrull himself pulled Teddy out of the Krees’ grasp.

“You must lead the Skrull army in order to stop this war, Your Highness.” The Super Skrull told Teddy.

“I can’t do that. That’s just more reason for a fight.” Teddy said. “But I have a proposal.” He said.

Moments later, everyone saw Teddy fly into the space between the Kree and Skrull lines, temporarily halting their attacks.

"Stop this!" he shouted. Both Skrulls and Kree, as well as the Avengers, paused to hear what he had to say. “I will stay with both.” He announced, loud and clear.

The Kree and Skrull leaders seemed confused with his announcement.

“Six months with each, with regular visits to Earth.” Teddy explained. “So I can wisely choose to whom I will pledge allegiance to.”

“Teddy, what are you doing? You can’t go with them!” Billy exclaimed. _No no no no no no no, he can’t go._

“I have to. It is the only way this fight will ever stop.”

“You don’t have to do this, Teddy.” Captain America said.

“Yes, I do.” He replied. “I’m sorry.” He approached the team and quickly said his goodbyes. Then, after a few protests from the Kree that were rapidly silenced, Teddy entered the Skrull ship.

“I can’t believe he did that.” Cassie muttered, while staring at the warship as it flew away.

“Yup, me neither.” They heard Teddy’s voice at their backs. He stood where the Super Skrull had been, just a few moments ago.

“What the fuck!?” Tommy gasped.

“But...” Cassie started.

“That was the Kl’rt back there. The Super Skrull.” Teddy said. “He’s the one who’s gonna spend six months with each, while I stay here on earth.”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Cassie exclaimed, as the team cheered around Teddy.

Kate started to feel a little dizzy and put her hand on Tommy’s arm for support.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked, concerned.

When she looked down, there was blood all over her stomach and her hands. Her legs went weak and she felt Tommy’s arms catch her before she hit the ground. He looked worried, and she couldn’t find the strength to tell him not to be.

His face was the last thing she saw before everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it took a long time, but here it is.
> 
> Hope you guys like it and give me feedback!

He was running as fast as he could. He felt her limp in his arms and a panic went through him. She couldn’t die, not now. He was a coward, he was scared of what he was feeling, and he walked away from her. He should have fought, he would have fought for her, but the jealousy meant feelings, and Tommy didn’t do feelings. Everyone he cared about had left him, so he learned to do the same. But the simple thought of losing her hurt more than anything else ever would. It was strange, he knew her for less than a week, and yet, she did that to him, pushed him off his track. Since he first laid his eyes on her, back on the coffee shop, he felt different. He shrugged it off, never really paid much mind to it. But when he saw her with that guy, the way she smiled at him, anger took over him. So he did was he learned to do, he ran. He ran never to look back. He was looking for a place to stay, he was leaving the warehouse. But then she showed up with Billy and things got complicated and now she was bleeding in his arms and God, he needed to rush.

“Help! Somebody help!” He cried, as he entered the ER. The nurses and doctors rushed to his aid and put Kate in a bed.

“What happened?” One of the doctors asked him.

He couldn’t think straight, let alone formulate a sentence. “She was... She passed out, there was blood all over and I just ran.”

He could hear his heart pounding as they took her away. He sat on the bench at the ER and rest his head on his hands.

“Sir?” One of the nurses say to him. “Are you alright? Your nose is bleeding.”

Only then he remembered the Super Skrull and the punch and everything that had happened on the rooftop. They should be getting here in no time. And Eli. He was probably in this hospital too.

“Yeah, I forgot about that.” He said, as the nurse took him to a bed and a young doctor sat beside him and started to clean his nose.

“Do you know where they took her?” Tommy asked.

“The girl you brought in?” She asked, and he nodded. “They need to see the extent of her injuries, but by the amount of blood, she’s probably gonna need surgery.”

“Oh.” _Surgery. Fuck._ “Is it gonna take long?”

“I can’t say, that’s up to her doctor. But I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon.” She took a good look at his nose. “Okay, your it’s broken, I’m going to put it back. And it’s gonna hurt.”

Tommy was more worried about Kate and the surgery, so by the time she pushed his nose back into place, all he could feel was the sharp pain and his instincts kicked in, so he headed out the door. The doctor who was with him tried to stop him, but he ran away.

He kept running and ended up in the coffee shop where he first met her. It was late, so the place was already closed. He sat down in front of the store and felt a sudden urge to cry. _She’s in surgery and you ran away, you idiot. She needs you and you’re here. Don’t walk away again, Tommy. Not from her._

The sky was clear, not a single cloud. The city seemed peaceful, or as peaceful as New York city can be. He thought of his parents, they were never there for him. He had learned that being alone was all there was to have, that loving someone could only lead to heartbreak and pain, and if his own parents didn’t love him enough to stay, why would anyone else? So he shut everyone down, pushed everyone away.

Tears ran down from his eyes and he quickly brushed them off, getting back in his feet. He had to go back to the hospital, he had to find the rest of the group. He had to get to her and show her that he wasn’t running anymore. Maybe she didn’t like him back, maybe he was just a hook up for her, but he had to try. He had to make sure that he did everything to stay. If she didn’t want him, he’d leave, but not because he was scared. Not again.

He came into the hospital reception to find the rest of the team there. They gave him a quick update on Eli, who had just left surgery and was doing just fine.

“And Kate? How’s Kate?”

“She’s still in surgery, Tommy. We don’t know.” Billy answered.

So there was nothing to do but wait.

He stayed in the waiting room for what it seemed like an eternity. He felt like he could run around the world a thousand times and still no one could tell him how Kate was. He asked the nurses over and over, even Billy told him to calm down, to just sit and wait, that he had done everything he could.

Eventually, the doctor that took her away came back. Tommy instantly recognized him and ran straight to him.

“How’s she, doc? Is she okay?” he blurred out.

“She’s fine. No vital organs were hit, she only passed out because she lost a lot of blood. She should wake up in a few hours.”

Tommy felt like he could breathe again.


End file.
